Japanese Whalers take a more strident stance!

Each year we see the Southern Ocean become a battleground between Japanese Whalers and various groups trying to stop the practise the Japanese label as ‘Scientific research.’ Of course we all know that this is just a way of continuing the slaughter of whales, a practice that the vast majority of the world’s nations abhor, some to the point of putting real pressure on Japan. We also know that Japan, especially under the ‘guidance’ of their new PM (Abe) is beginning to fight back. We have seen collision in the dangerous seas off the Antarctic coastline and it won’t be long before there are deaths. Yesterday we saw a Japanese vessel enter NZ’s EEZ, something that is not illegal, but it does represent a ramping up of the actions taken by the Japanese to discourage ‘protest’ vessels from their increasingly dangerous actions. Whilst I am on the side of the ‘anti-whalers,’ I would like to see them take measures that do not endanger lives.

There must be other ways in which to pressure the Japanese. Given their actions in the Northern Hemisphere around a group of Islands that they dispute access to with the Chinese, I suspect that we are in for some torrid times. I hope that level heads prevail on both sides. I hope even more that we are not witnessing a revival of old Japanese wishes to play a belligerent role in world affairs. A return to the past has no winners.

www.authorneilcoleman.com

Big 'wets, big drys and then the big burns.' At what stage will Aussie head for--------

It just has to be said----- Australia has been called the ‘lucky country’ for quite some time as it reaps the benefits of ‘digging its wealth from under the ground and of course, its other attractions. Of late though, we have seen some economic portents that do not sit well for many Australians.

They have a new Government that is hell-bent on ‘reforming’ the economy and read into that an attack on the working classes, as he attacks unions and decimates the manufacturing sector. If you add in the ‘God-sent’ factors; namely the vagaries of climate and the constant bush fires, then one wonders how much longer Australia can hold to its once famous ‘lucky’ reputation.

It seems that the ‘season for the fires now rolls into one where there are cyclones and flooding. Was it always like this or is what we are witnessing something man-made---dare I say it? (Tony will be writhing in anger at the very thought of being wrong!)---- ‘Climate Change?’

Either way, whether I am correct or way off in my surmise, things are not looking good for the huge Island continent. Australia’s population is increasing at a faster rate than ours in New Zealand, but is this factor not going to make the above forces of nature even more noticeable as resources become stretched to fit the newbies into the narrow coastal ‘inhabitable strip?’

Guess what?---Aussies will be heading for ‘pastures greener,’ like to NZ because they may not be welcome in other countries, but by then perhaps NZ will have enacted laws that make the transition a little more difficult, like not giving the rights that we currently give to newly arriving Aussies. Couldn’t you just see that coming? I don’t think Tony and his predecessors did? Of course, we will need a Government in NZ that doesn’t kowtow to their big brother across the ditch. Hell--- wasn’t there a movie a few years ago that fantasised about a ‘real Aussie invasion?’  Just joking, aren’t I?

Of course I am kidding. New Zealanders would welcome the Aussies and long as they leave some of their attitudes behind them.  It’s OK to bring the ‘never -say-die’ sporting approach though. Of course they will have to take their turns behind the Poms too.

www.authorneilcoleman.com